Drawer construction



April 10, 1962 Filed May 6,

B. WILLIAMS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 1 as 3 Q M 25 25 FIG.2 2.9 27 35 7 67 vvv Zv v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v vv 1 27} f F|G.5

April 10, 1962 B. WILLIAMS 3,029,357

DRAWER CONSTRUCTION Filed May 6, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 \J I I \l U \l 7 23 /53 51 \l v I v I u u 8 8 53 1 April 1962 B. WILLIAMS 3,029,357

DRAWER CONSTRUCTION Filed May 6, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 35 T3123 F|G.l| 125 aw III HIJI 'XI 5131 III|l C) Q p Q Q o c) Q Q Q \Im I U rates -nite rice r 3,029,357 DRAWER CONSTRUCTION Benjamin Williams Medina, N.Y. (761 W. River Parkway, Grand island, N.Y.) Filed May 6, 1958, Ser. No. 733,413 3 Claims. (Cl. 312-263) The present invention relates to a knockdown drawer construction and, more particularly, to drawers and accessories comprising a plurality of interfitting standard parts which can easily be assembled in various combinations by relatively unskilled people using only a few basic tools.

An object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved knockdown drawer construction employing a minimum of diflerent standard component parts while having great flexibility in assembling different styles and sizes.

Another object is the provision of a basic knockdown drawer kit which can be expanded to a large variety of styles and sizes by the addition of other standard side and bottom wall channel parts and partitions.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved knockdown drawer assembly embodying a novel construction concept including an advantageous locking seam.

A further object is the provision of a new and im proved knockdown drawer which can be easily assembled by relatively unskilled people using a few basic tools and which is yet sturdy and lightweight.

A still further object is the provision of a new and improved knockdown drawer construction composed of a few types of standard intcrfittlng parts that can be inexpensively manufactured and assembled.

Another object is the provision of a new and improved knockdown drawer slide composed of a few inexpensive readily assembled parts.

These and other desirable objects may be attained in the manner disclosed as an illustrative embodiment of the invention in the following description and in the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an assembled basic knockdown drawer to which a cross partition has been added, parts being broken away to show better the in terior detail;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section to a larger scale, of the drawer of FIG. 1 taken substantially on the line 2-2 thereof looking in the direction of the arrows, the front panels being omitted;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section to an even larger scale of one of the locking seams shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a section to a larger scale of a portion of the unit of FIG. 1 taken substantially on the line 4--4 thereof, with some parts shown spaced;

FIG. 5 is a section to a larger scale of a portion of the drawer of FIG. 1 taken substantially on the line 55 thereof, showing in particular the lugs for holding a cross partition;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of a basic drawer to which 1 has been added side and bottom wall expander channel parts and certain partitions;

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic sectional view to a larger scale of the drawer of FIG. 6 taken substantially on the line 7-7 thereof looking in the direction of the arrows, only a portion of the front panel and divider clip being shown;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view to an even larger scale of a portion of the drawer of FIG. 6 taken substantially on the line 8-3 thereof, and showing in paritcular the clip for holding the ends of a longitudinal partition in place;

FIG. 9 is a side view of a special screw fastener for the front and rear panels;

FIG. 10 is a side view of a special drill used to make holes in the front and rear panels;

FIG. 11 is a side elevational view of a runner shown fastened to a pair of cabinet uprights and providing part of a drawer guide slide;

FIG. 12 is a side elevational view of the runner of FIG. 11 including other assembled parts of the drawer guide slide, a portion of the drawer being shown also;

FIG. 13 is a cross-section of the slide of FIG. 12 taken substantially on the line l3-13 thereof and including also a portion of a drawer side wall;

FIG. 14 is a cross-section of the slide and drawer side wall of FIG. 12 taken substantially on the line 14-14 thereof and including additional portions of the drawer side wall;

FIG. 15 is a section similar to FIG. 14 of a special channel fastened to a wooden drawer for receiving the guide slide of FIGS. l114; and

P18. 16 is a fragmentary perspective view of a special drawer assembly equipped with a movable transverse partition useful as a follower when the drawer is used as a file for papers.

The same reference numerals throughout the several views indicate the same parts.

The knockdown drawer construction as herein disclosed is especially suited to be purchsed as a kit of parts and assembled by the purchaser, and will be described as such in the preferred embodiment. As will become evident, it has special appeal to the do-it-yourself group who wish to avoid the high cost of factory assembly. It has further appeal to those who wish a custom job of a particular size and style of finish drawer. However, it is to be understood that the drawers may, if desired, be assembled at a factory or warehouse and ofiered for sale as a finished product.

In FIG. 1 is shown a knockdown drawer having the smallest size and least number of parts that may be constructed according to the teaching of the present invention. The drawer illustrated in F156. 1 is shown equipped with a cross partition, the use of which is optional. The side and bottom walls of the basic drawer are provided by a plurality of interfitting parts or sections each extending the length of the drawer. The bottom wall comprises a first bottom wall member or section 21 and a second b0ttom wall member or section 23 removably connected together at their adjacent edges by an outwardly extending locking seam indicated in general at '25. The side walls are provided by a pair of opposing upstanding side chan' nels or sections 2'7 and 29 secured at their lower edges to the outer edges of the first and second bottom wall members or sections 21 and 23. Preferably another section which may be called a cap strip is provided at the upper edge of each of the side channels. Thus a pair of opposing cap strips 31 and 33 are secured to upper free edges of the side channels 27 and 29, respectively. Each of the side channels is removably connected to its respective cap strip by a locking seam identical to the locking seam 25 already mentioned and to its respective bottom wall member by a. locking seam 26 which, as will be clarified later, is similar to the locking seams 25.

To facilitate assembly of a front and rear Wall for the drawer, a series of inwardly directed flanges are provided at either end of the side and bottom wall parts or sections. At the front end, each part has an inwardly directed flange 35, the adjacent edges of the flanges being sloped so that adjacent flanges do not overlap one another. At the rear end, in identical fashion, each part or section has an inwardly directed flange 37. A rear wall is provided by a back panel 41 lying flush against the outer surface of the flanges 37. The back panel 41 is fastened to a back panel liner 43 located within the drawer lying flush against the inner surface of the flanges 37. Appropriate fasteners such as fasteners secure the back panel 41 to the back panel liner 43 with the flanges 37 sandwiched between them.

A front wall is provided by a front panel 47 lying flush against the front edges of the side and bottom wall parts and the front surface of the flanges 35. As at the rear end, the front panel 47 is secured by a plurality of appropriate fasteners 45 to a front panel liner 49 lying within the drawer flush against the inner surface of the flanges 35, the flanges 35 being sandwiched between them. The two liners 43 and 49 and the back panel 41 are preferably of the same size. The outer edges of the back panel can be chamfered or beveled so as to provide a pleasing and attractive appearance. The front panel 47 will always be of larger area than liners 43, 49 and back panel 41, as shown in FIG. 1. The margins of the front panel 47 usually overlap the edges of the drawer opening in the cabinet in which the drawer is fitted, when it is closed. Panel 47 may, if desired, be made so that the drawer front will be flush or recessed with respect to the front surface of the cabinet in which the drawer is fitted, depending upon the style of the cabinet being assembled.

If desired, one or more cross or transverse partitions may be provided within the drawer. To this end, a series of vertically alined lugs 51 are provided in the side channels 27 and 29 for receiving a cross partition 53, in a manner to be explained in greater detail hereafter.

As can be better seen in FIG. 2, each of the knockdown locking seams 25 comprises an outer C-shaped loop member 55 connected to one of the parts and an inner locking member 57 connected to an adjacent part. Preferably the members 55 and 57 are integral with their respective parts. The G-shaped loop member 55, referring to FIG. 3, comprises a loop portion 56 having an outwardly directed end 59, the other end of the loop being connected to its respective part by a straight leg portion 61 which is at a substantially right angle to its part. The inner locking member 57 comprises an outwardly and sidewardly directed straight leg portion 63 extending at an acute angle to the part to which it is connected. The outer end of the leg portion 63 is looped back upon itself to provide an inner loop portion 65. The two loop portions 56 and 65 are approximately the same radius, although the loop portion 65 preferably has a slightly smaller radius than that of the loop portion 56. The corner locking seams 26 are identical to the center locking seams 25 with the exception that the straight leg portion 61 is planar with its bottom wall member.

The locking seams 25 and 26, of course, extend the full length of the drawer and are easily assembled anddisassembled. When assembled, the two loop portions 56 and 65 frictionally engage one another at three points a, b, and c. A slight springing action is required to force the webs of all joining side and bottom wall parts to line up with each other as shown in FIG. 3. This slight springing action forms a tight seal on the inside of the drawer at point c, eliminates vibration between the parts and prevents sliding of interlocked parts unless considerable force is applied. A load within the drawer merely increases the amount of frictional engagement of the locking seam members. For disassembly, straight portions 61 and 63 are moved more nearly into parallelism as the two loop portions are disengaged and the inner member 57 is moved relative to the outer member 55. The locking seams 25 and 26 perform several useful functions in addition to making possible a rapid drawer assembly. They provide flanges on the outside of the drawer which strengthen the bottom and sides so much that it becomes possible to make these parts of low cost relatively thin gauge sheet metal or plastic, etc. They further aline inside surfaces of the drawer so that all seams are flat and tight, and, of course, if the drawers are ever taken apart for reuse, the parts can be separated as easily and as quickly as they were originally assembled. Because a relatively thin sheet metal is preferably used, it is to be noted that the upper edges of the cap strips 31 and 33 are made wide in order to improve the appearance of the drawer, especially when viewed from the top, plus adding stiffness to the top edge of the drawer.

The front and rear flanges 35 and 37 are desirably integral with the side and bottom wall parts. Each flange has one or more rows of V-shaped struck-out projections to form locking tongues or teeth, two such staggered rows being illustrated in FIG. 2. The struck-out projections 67 preferably project inwardly as shown in FIG. 4. If desired, the projections 67 may protrude from the opposite face of the flange, or a single flange may be provided with tongues projecting from both faces. The front and back panels 47 and 41 and their respective liners 49 and 43 are desirably made of wood, plywood, composition board, or the like. Consequently when the liner 43, for example, is fastened loosely to the back panel 41, but with some play between them, during the initial assembly of the drawer, the flanges 37 may be inserted between the loosely assembled members 41 and 43 and will easily slide inwardly between these members 41 and 43, because the pointed ends of the projections 67 will trail rather than lead. But when the fasteners 45 are tightened to draw the members 41 and 43 toward each other, the teeth 67 will bite into the liner 43 and interlock therewith to hold the flanges 37 very securely in place. The same action occurs with regard to the front flanges 35. Any force applied to the flanges 35 or 37 to pull them out of their joints will be resisted by the projections 67 digging into the wood or the like with greater force. Since the projections are all pointed, relatively little pressure of the fasteners 45 will start to seat the points of the projections into the wood and lock them into place.

In FIG. 5 the previously mentioned lugs 51 are shown in greater detail. Each lug is formed by slitting the side channel wall and applying an inward pressure to one side of the slit to hump the metal out of the plane of the side wall, providing What may be called embossed or struckup lugs. One or more opposing pairs of lugs 51 are formed in this manner to provide a track to receive the cross partition 53, at least two pairs of vertically alined opposing lugs preferably being provided as illustrated in FIG. 1. For ease and economy of construction, the cross partition 53 is desirably made of the same sheet metal material, preferably sheet steel, as forms the side and bottom wall parts. The partition 53 therefore is preferably made of a single piece of sheet metal material folded at the top to provide two parallel walls 71 and 73. In order that the bottom edges of the walls 71 and 73 not be sharp, these bottom edges may be provided with inwardly directed loops similar to the looped portion 65 of the inner locking member 57 as illustrated in FIG. 3. Each cross partition 53 is desirably cut from a longer strip of material having suflicient length to provide a number of partitions, which may be cut off as needed using tin shears.

The basic drawer as described is composed of a minimum number of interfitting standard parts. The side channels 27 and 29 with their respective flanges and locking seam portions are identical although assembled as to be opposing. The same is true of the two cap strips 31 and 33, which are identical but opposing when assembled. Thus, the basic drawer is constructed of two cap strip pieces, two side channels, one first bottom wall member, and one second bottom wall member. When packaged as a kit, these parts are preferably provided, and in addition the screw fasteners 45 and one special drill 109, to be described later, are also provided in the kit. The front panel 47 is provided by the purchaser who can make it of the material and finish that he desires. The material for the liners 43 and 59 and for the back panel 41 is also provided by the purchaser. Plywood has been found to be a desirable material for these parts.

The basic drawer is easily and conveniently assembled from the kit of parts. The bottom and side wall parts are easily snapped into place, and the front and back panels made and assembled as described. If a cross partition 53 is used, it is cut to the desired length from a longer strip of material and simply dropped into place between the opposing pairs of lugs 51.

The basic drawer of FIG. 1 may be expanded in width or depth or in both width and depth according to the teachings of the present invention. As will become apparent, great flexibility is provided in expanding the basic drawer to a large variety of sizes. This is done by the addition of expander channels to the side and bottom walls, as desired, of the basic drawer. Thus, in FIGS. 6 and 7, a narrow expander channel 77 has been inserted between the side channel 27 and the cap strip 31. Like its adjacent parts, the expander channel 77 is provided at either end with an inwardly directed flange 35 or 37 and has outwardly directed locking seam members extending from its longitudinal edges. The expander channels 77 thus lock into place in a manner identical to that described for the basic parts. The bottom wall of the drawer has also been expanded by the addition of a wide expander channel 81 and two of the narrow expander channels 77. The wide expander channel 81, like the narrow expander channel 77, has inwardly directed flanges at its two ends and outwardly extending locking members secured to its two edges. Of course, the narrow and wide channels 77 and 81 may be used in either the side walls or the bottom wall.

The widths of the narrow expander channel 77 and the wide expander channel 81 are chosen so as to give maximum diversity of combination in making Various size drawers. The length of the expander channels, of course, is the same as the length of the parts forming the basic drawer.

The width of the parts forming the basic drawer are chosen such that the basic drawer preferably fits an opening 6" wide x 3" high, although it is to be understood that these suggested sizes are not intended to limit the invention, the principles of the invention being applicable to parts of other sizes. For a cabinet opening of 6 x 3", the width of the first bottom wall member 21 and the second bottom wall member 23 is 2 /2", and that of the side channels 27 and 29 is 2", exclusive of the locking seam portions. For these dimensions, great diversity of combination is achieved when the narrow expander channels '77 are 1 wide and the wide expander channels 81 are 2 /2" wide. By adding one or more narrow or wide channels 77 or ill in the correct combination, the cabinet opening width can be increased from 6" for the basic drawer to 7", then to 8", then to 8 /2", and thereafter in one-half inch increments to any desired width. The cabinet can be made first and the drawer fitted into the cabinet opening, or vice versa. In a similar manner, by the choice of an appropriate number of wide or narrow divider channels, the depth of the drawer can be increased in stepwise fashion to fit a great variety of cabinet opening depths. Cabinet opening depths are relatively unimportant, as the clearance between the top of the cap strip and the drawer above or the cabinet opening can be any dimension, as long as there is no frictional engagement of the cap strip with the cabinet frame or the drawer above.

Into the bottom wall has also been inserted a longitudinal partition 83. Like the cross partitions 53 previously described, it is preferably of the same sheet metal material as that forming the side and bottom wall parts. A piece of sheet metal material is desirably folded over at the top to form two parallel side walls 85 and 87. The bottom edges of the side walls 85 and 87 are each provided with a locking seam member, the edge of the wall 85 being provided with an inner locking member 57, and

the edge of the wall 87 being provided with an outer I C-shaped looped member 55. If desired, the longitudinal partition 83 may be formed with a plurality of lugs 51 similar to those already described on the side channels for receiving cross partitions such as the partitions 53.

The longitudinal partition 83, while amply supported at its bottom edge by the locking portions 55 and 57, is desirably given additional support at the top. For this purpose, the front and rear ends of the parition 83 at the top are each provided with a rectangular slot 89, as best shown in FIG. 8. A clip 91 is supported on its respective liner 49 or-43 and has a forwardly extending tongue 93 extending under the metal forming the fold at the top of the longitudinal partition 83. The clip 91 has-an upwardly directed inclined surface 95 through which an appropriate screw fastener extends into the respective liner. A pair of tapering side pieces 97 having lower curved ends engage the wall of the liner and cooperate with the screw fastener to hold the tongue 93 in fixed relation relative to the liner within the fold of the longitudinal partition. Any desired number of longitudinal partitions 83 can be inserted into the bottom seams of a drawer and, likewise, any desired number of cross partitions 53 may be used.

The locking seams 25 and 26 between each of the parts strengthen the drawer even though a large drawer is made using many expander channels. The locking seams provide a series of longitudinally extending ribs which reinforce the side and bottom walls, and since the number of strengthening ribs increases as the drawer sizes increase, an increasing amount of reinforcing is automatically provided for the larger drawer sizes. As mentioned previously, the reinforcing action of the locking seams 25 and 26 permits a relatively thin sheet metal to be used in constructing the various side and bottom wall parts. For the dimensions given above, a 26 US. gauge sheet steel is considered adequate.

While the thickness of the wood or plywood or the like used for constructing the back and front panels 41 and 4'7, respectively, and the liners 49 and 43 is not critical, it is desirable that they be relatively thin in order to minimize the cost of the drawer. Plywood /8" thick has been found to be a desirable material for these parts, particularly for the front panel and liner since standard drawer pulls are designed for a drawer front. For the thinner material, such as stock, it has been found that an ordinary relatively slender screw fastener does not give the desired strength. The screw fasteners 45 shown in FIG. 1 should therefore preferably be the type shown in FIG. 9. The screw 45 depicted has extremely wide threads 193 for its length. Furthermore the threads are cylindrical and deep so as to have a deep penetration into the wood. For instance, for a inch long screw,

the threaded portion of the screw is 1 inch long, the

outside diameter of the threaded portion is .250 inch and the shank H 5 thereof is .125 inch. A low number of threads per inch is used, such as 16 threads per inch in the example given. For the front panel 47, the screws 45 preferably pass first through the liner 49 and thence into the front panel 47 so as not to spoil the finish of the front surface thereof. For the back, panel 41, the

wood screws may conveniently pass first through the' back panel 41 and thence into the back panel liner 43.

Starting holes for the screws are desirably made with a special drill such as that illustrated in FIG. 10. .A drill 109 is provided having a wide cutting blade portion 111 and a narrow cutting blade portion 113 located forwardly of the wide cutting blade portion. The cutting blade portions 111 and 113 are approximately trapezoidal in cross section so as to provide a pair of outer cutting edges for each portion. The wide cutting blade portion 111 is reinforced by a buttress 115 on either side of the blade. The wide cutting blade portion 111 has a width slightly greater than that of the threads 103. The narrow blade portion 113 has a widely tapered forward edge for starting the hole and has a width slightly greater than that of the shank 165 of the screw 45. The overall length of the cutting blades 111 and 113 should be less than the combined thickness of the liner and panel member designed to be used. Thus for the example given, using panel members -73 inch thick, the length of the cutting blades is slightly less than /1 inch, from the extreme end of the cutting tip to the stop shoulder 117 which limits the penetration of the drill into the work. In the operation of the drill 109, of course, one liner and the appropriate panel member are lined up one on top of the other and the drill 109 is used in the ordinary manner to make a narrow hole of the correct depth in panels 43 or 47 and a wide hole clearance through the liners 41 or 49. The shank 119 of the drill is a round shank fitting the usual hand-operated crank drill or electric drill. Use of the special drill 109 is advantageous because locking the two wood pieces together with fasteners 45 so that each inwardly directed flange on the metal parts will be securely locked into the wood pieces requires a drilling operation having two diametric holes directly in line with each other. Drill 109 accomplishes this in one operation and eliminates the hazard of drilling through the front panel, which could spoil its appearance.

The purchaser may, if he desires, provide his own runners for the knockdown drawer construction described above. Common wood runners may be used, but these have the disadvantage that they are time consuming to make, rather difficult to install properly, and unless made of straight grained wood will warp and bind the drawer. Wood runners are not illustrated, but could be made to slidably engage in side channels 27 and 29 in the same manner as shown for front shoe 141 in FIG. 13, which will be described later. The present invention provides for runners of steel and plastic which overcome these disadvantages of the wood runners.

In FIG. 11 is shown a metal runner 121 adjustably secured near its ends to two parallel cabinet members 123 and 125. The description will proceed with regard to the runner at one side of the drawer, but it is to be understood that there is a similar runner assembly at the other side of the drawer. The forward end of the runner 121 is flat and has a transversely extending slot 127 and, if desired, a circular aperture 129 at one side of the slot. The slot 127 receives an appropriate fastener 131 for securing the forward end of the runner to a cabinet frame member, and allows depth adjustment of the front end of the runner 121. Desirably, an additional fastener may be provided for aperture 129 to more securely anchor the front end of the runner in place after the drawer has been positioned correctly in the cabinet opening. If necessary, the forward end of the runner may be adjustably spaced away from the surface of the cabinet frame member 123 by the insertion of one or more shims between runner 121 and cabinet member 123. The remaining portions of the runner 121 are substantially U-shaped in cross section, as can be better seen in FIG. 13. Each of the side walls of the runner includes a straight portion 133 substantially at right angles to the base of the runner, and an outwardly offset rounded portion 135 connecting the straight portion 133 to the base. The base of the runner 121 has a plurality of alined longitudinally extending slots 137 for accommodating the runner to cabinets having various distances between the two cabinet frame members 123 and 125. An appropriate fastener 139 extends through one of the slots 137 into the rear cabinet frame member 125. Of course, the rear ends of the runner 121 may be adjustably spaced from the cabinet frame member 125 by one or more shims. The runner 121 is preferably made of sheet metal material of a heavier gauge than that used for the drawer parts of FIGS. 1 and 6. It is to be noted the use of shims in connection with the runner 121 facilitates providing a drawer for any sized cabinet opening. The nearest standard drawer width is chosen and the difference is taken up by the appropriate number of shims.

A front shoe 141 is received by the forward part of the runner 121 and serves as a stop to prevent the drawer from being inadvertently pulled off the runner. The front shoe 141 is substantially U-shaped, see also FIG. 13, except at its forward end, and includes a rearward portion adapted to be sidably received between the straight portions 133 of the runner 121. Each of the side walls 143 of this rearward portion extends toward the base of the runner 121 and has an outwardly extending projection 145 at its end which is received within the outwardly offset portion 135 of the runner. The projections thus secure the front shoe 141 to the runner 121 for a sliding movement therealong. The front shoe 141 has a forward portion 147 which is wider than the distance between the straight portions 133 of the runner 121. The shoulders so formed between the front and rear portions of the front shoe 141 abut the forward edges of the straight portions 133 to limit the inward sliding motion of the front shoe.

The inwardly facing surface of the forward portion 147 of the front shoe 141 has a pair of legs 148 projecting inwardly at either side which are in slidable contact with the side wall 29 or 27. The straight leg portion 61 of the locking seam member 55 at the upper edge of each side wall slidably rests on the upper edge 150 of each upper leg 143 to provide one of the contact points between the runner assembly and the drawer assembly. A second contact point between the runner and drawer assembly is provided by the engagement of one of the edges of a rear shoe 151 with the track 121, see FIGS. 12 and 14.

The rear shoe 151 is fastened to the side walls 27 or 29 of the drawer for movement therewith along the runner 121. The rear shoe 151 is substantially U-shaped and has the bottom edge of its base preferably fastened to one of the side channels 27 or 29 by two or more screw fasteners 153. Desirably the side channels 27 and 29 are provided with pre-punched holes to receive the screw fasteners 153 and locate the rear shoe. The length of the rear shoe 151 is slightly less than the distance betwen the straight portions 133 of the runner 121 to allow free sliding contact between the rear shoe 151 and runner 121 as the drawer moves either forward or backward. When assembled to the runner 121, either the upper or lower edge 155 of the rear shoe 151 engages a straight portion 133 of the runner 121 depending on how the drawer is balanced with respect to the upper edge of front shoe 141. With the drawer closed or nearly closed, lower edge 155 of rear shoe 151 engages the straight portion 133 of the runner 121. When the drawer is opened far enough that the center of gravity of the drawers and contents passes forward of the upper edge of the front shoe 14-1, the upper edge 155 of the rear shoe 151 will engage the upper straight portion 133 of the runner 121. These upper and lower edges are desirably rounded both lengthwise and widthwise so as to reduce the frictional contact between the rear shoe 151 and the runner 121. The inwardly directed tips 157 of both edges 155 of the rear shoe 151 are also desirably slightly rounded widthwise so that only a small portion of the edges slidably engage the base of the runner 121. The length of edges 155 on rear shoe 151 and also the length of the straight portions 133 of the front shoe 141 are selected so as to prevent sliding contact of all metal parts when the drawer slides along the track 121.

With the various parts of the runner assembled, it is seen that the rear shoe 151 moves inward and outward with the drawer sliding along the runner 121. Outward movement of the drawer is limited by the engagement of the rear shoe 151 with the rear edge of the front shoe 141. The front shoe 141 is removably inserted in the runner 121, however it is held in place with sufficient force so that a normal movement of the drawer outwardly does not dislodge the front shoe 141. Pulling the drawer forwardly forcefully, however, causes the rear shoe 151 to hit the front shoe 141 with a force large enough to slide the front shoe 141 forwardly out of place and out of the runner 121. Thus, when it is desired to remove the drawer from the cabinet or to remove the drawer for cleaning purposes. it is merely pulled forward with a fairly large force so that the two front shoes 141 are knocked out of place. Conveniently, the front shoes are assembled on runners 121 in such a manner that a predetermined force of about ten pounds is required to pull the two front shoes 141 oi the front ends of the runners 121.

As has been explained, the runner 121 is preferably made of thin gauge sheet metal. The front shoe 141 and the rear shoe 151 are desirably made of a suitable plastic so as to reduce the friction between the moving parts. A low friction, smooth operating drawer results. A molded nylon material for the front and rear shoe appears to be very desirable.

The knockdown drawer construction of FIGS. 1 and 6,

has a unique advantage in that it is not necessary to square up the drawer front panel with the cabinet frame. This is because there is sufiicient slippage in the locking seams 25 and 26 of the metal parts misalinement of the runners with respect to the front of the cabinet by several degrees. When the drawer is closed, the drawer will automatically aline itself to the runners so that the drawer front will fit tightly against the front of the cabinet. This is an important design feature for the relatively unskilled assembler.

The runner assembly of FIGS. 11 through 14 may, if desired, be used with a wooden drawer construction. As before, referring to FIG. 15, a runner 121 is fastened to a cabinet frame member 161 and a front shoe 14-1 is inserted in the runner 121. A rear shoe 151, as before, is fastened to a side wall 162 of the wooden drawer. An additional part is needed, however, this being an inside track 163, which is U-shaped and has its base flush against the outside of the side wall 162, located between the rear shoe 151 and the side wall. 162. The inside track 163 has substantially parallel legs 165 extending toward the runner 121 and overlapping the straight portions 133 of the runner. With the additional track 163, the operation of the runner assembly for the wooden drawer construction is the same as that described in connection with the knockdown drawers. For this case, track 163 substitutes for side channels 27 or 29 which are always provided 'with the knockdown drawers.

A special drawer construction useful in filing cabinets or the like is illustrated in FIG. 16. This construction is characterized by having a movable partition 171 which is considerably deeper than the cross partition 53 previously described and which is adjustable to a larger number of positions lengthwise of the drawer than the partition 53, so as to act as a follower" for the contents of the drawer. For use with the partition 171, three specially prepared expander channels must be included in the side and bottom walls of the drawer. A specially prepared channel 173 is inserted into the center of the bottom wall of the drawer. A second and a third specially prepared channel 175 are inserted into the side wall of the drawer above the side channel 27 or 29 which is a part of the basic drawer. For this application, the lugs 51 are omitted from the side channels. In FIG. 16 the left side Wall has been omitted for the sake of clarity. The special channels 173 and 175 are identical parts and are desirably wide expander channels similar to the wide expander channel 81 previously described, but to which a series of alined apertures 177 have been added centrally of the channels extending longitudinally therealong.

The partition 171 has secured to its rear wall centrally of its wi th 21 fitting 179 having a downwardly extending projection 181 which extends beyond the lower edge whether or not used with the slide assembly just described,

of the partition. The projection 181 is removably received within one of the apertures 177 in the bottom Wall special expander channel 173. The partition 171 also has at either side edge a sleeve fitting 183 for slidably receiving the end of a plunger rod 185. The end of the plunger rod 185 extends beyond the side edge of the partition 171 and is retractably received within one of the apertures 177 in the side wall expander channels 175. The plunger rods 185 are spring operated in a convenient manner so as to allow quick adjustability of the partition 171. For this purpose, a U-shaped spring 187 is provided and has its base secured to the partition by means of extending under a semi-circular portion of the fitting 1'79. The free ends of the legs of the spring 187 are free to move toward one another. Each of the free ends is connected to its respective plunger rod 185 by a connecting portion 181 including a forwardly extending loop,

' a downwardly extending portion parallel to its respective leg, and a rearwardly extending loop which is connected to the inner end of the plunger rod 185. Preferably the plunger rods 185, the connecting portions 189 and the U-shaped spring 137 are integral.

By grasping the upper loops of the connecting portions 189 between the fingers and pressing inwardly, it will be seen that the ends of the plunger rods 185 are retracted from the apertures 177. A partition 171 is thus conveniently assembled in the drawer by simply lowering the projection 181 into one of the apertures 177 in the special channel 173 and releasing the ends of the plunger rods into an alined pair of apertures 177 in the side channel expander channels 175.

The partition 171 may, of course, be made in various sizes for various size drawers. As illustrated in FIG. 16, the drawer includes the parts of the basic drawer as described in FIG. 1 to which have been added two wide expander channels 31, one special channel 173 and two special channels 175. The depth of the partition 171, as is common in filing cabinet partitions, is preferably considerably greater than the depth of the drawer. It can thus be seen that by the addition to the basic drawer of a few specially prepared expander channels and a special partition, a filing cabinet drawer results which is admirably suited for a variety of purposes.

The knockdown drawer according to the present invention is especially designed to be relatively inexpensive,

while yet having great flexibility of size and use. Because of the reinforcing action of the locking seams 25 and 26, the side and bottom wall parts may be constructed of an inexpensiverelatively thin gauge sheet metal. It is desirable to make the parts of a painted or pre-enameled sheet metal. Painted material is relatively inexpensive, and saves the purchaser or assembler the trouble of painting an assembled unfinished drawer. The front panel 47 is selected so as to blend in with the cabinet construction,

and thus is admirably of a material and finish chosen by the assembler.

Because the knockdown drawer parts can be assembled into a great number of different depths and widths, it has a large variety of uses. The shape may vary from a relatively Wide shallow drawer such as might be used for storing blueprints or the like, to a relatively deep narrow drawer for storing elongated hardware or other objects. The drawer has many uses around the home. In the bathroom, for instance, a drawer is conveniently used for storing medical supplies and other small bathroom articles. In the kitchen, the drawers serve as a convenient storing place for table ware, dishes, linen, and the like. In the workshop, the basic drawer of FIG. 1 may be conveniently used to store small objects .of hardware such as screws, nails, and the like. The filing cabinet of FIG. 16 is especially useful in storing magazine cut-outs, instruction manuals, sheet music, miscellaneous catalogues, et cetra. With regard to the filing cabinet drawer, it is to be noted that conventional metallic filing cabinet units are too expensive for the average home owner and do not 1: i. blend in very well with home furnishings. Consequently, the knockdown drawer herein described is especially attractive to the do-it-yourself home owner.

The provision of the cross and longitudinal partitions 53 and 33 is especially advantageous for these uses and other uses. The placement of the longitudinal partitions 83 must be decided at the time of assembling the drawer. However the cross partitions 53 may be easily removed and replaced in another location after the drawer has been assembled. Thus the partitioning arrangement may be varied easily as the need arises. If it becomes absolutely necessary to change the position of the longitudinal partitions 83, it is possible to disassemble the drawer, relocate the longitudinal partitions, and assemble the drawer again without having to supply any additional parts or at any additional cost.

The knockdown drawer construction herein described may be assembled quickly by relatively unskilled people following simple instructions. Assuming that the front and back panels and their liners are made by the purchaser or user, only a few basic tools such as a saw, plane, square and ruler are required to make these panels and liners. Only a hand drill, screwdriver, and tin shears are required in order to assemble the finished drawer. Any home owner has access to such tools. The special drill and screw of FIGS. 9 and 10 can be inexpensively manufactured and supplied with the kit of parts. Because of the unique locking seam construction, the side and bottom walls of an average size drawer can be assembled within a matter of minutes. Making and assembling the front and back panels and their liners can also be done easily and quickly by the average person.

It is contemplated that the various parts described above be packaged as a number of kits, the user buying whichever kit or combination of kits which is suited to his purpose. For instance, parts 21, 23, 27, 29, 31, and 33 of the basic drawer of FIG. 1 may be packaged as a kit including the special drill and screw of FIGS. 9 and 10. The wide and narrow expander channels 81 and 77 may be packaged as separate kits, the purchaser buying whatever combination of channels is necessary to make the size drawer which he desires. The cross partitions 53 and the longitudinal partitions 83 may also conveniently be separately packaged, the purchaser buying as many of each as he has use for. The runner assembly as described in connection with FIGS. 11 through 14 is desirably packed as a separate kit, especially since it may be used with other types of drawers than the drawer described in detail here. The runner assembly as described in connection with FIG. 15, which is used with wooden drawers, makes a separate kit. Likewise, a filing cabinet construction of FIG. 16 is desirably packaged separately with all of the side and bottom wall parts included. Of course, other combinations of parts than the ones described above may be packaged, the suggested arrangements being illustrative only.

It is seen from the foregoing disclosure that the above mentioned objects of the invention are well fulfilled. It is to be understood that the foregoing disclosure is given by way of illustrative example only, rather than by way of limitation, and that without departing from the invention,

12 the details may be varied Within the scope of the appended claims,

What is claimed is:

1. A knockdown drawer comprising a plurality of elongated sections providing the side Walls and bottom wall of the drawer, said bottom wall including a pair of said sections interfitting with each other, said side walls including a pair of identical opposing sections, one of said opposing sections being on one side wall and the other being opposite thereto on the other side wall, and means for removably interlocking said sections to each other, said locking means including a plurality of substantially identical locking seams, each of said locking seams having an outer C-shaped loop member and an inner locking member, each of said members being connected to a longitudinal edge of one of said sections.

2. A knockdown drawer comprising a plurality of elongated sections providing the side walls and bottom wall of the drawer, means removably interlocking said sections comprising a plurality of substantially identical outwardly extending locking seams, each of said locking seams including an outer C-shaped loop member and an inner locking member, said inner locking member including an acutely disposed straight leg member having a loop portion formed at one end, said loop portion being of substantially the same radius as that of said outer C-shaped loop member and frictionally interlocked therewith.

3. The combination of a knockdown drawer and runner comprising a plurality of longitudinally extending interfitting sections forming the side walls and bottom wall of the drawer, means for removably interlocking adjacent longitudinal edges of said sections including a plurality of outwardly extending locking seams, said side walls including a pair of said sections in opposing relation to each other, each of said side wall sections and adjacent locking seams cooperating to provide a track, a pair of substantially U-shaped runners for attachment to cabinet frame members, a front shoe frictionally and removably received within one end of each of said runners, an upper edge of each of said shoes abutting one of said tracks, and a U-shaped rear shoe secured to each of said side wall members and having legs slidably engaging one of said runners, said front shoes normally serving as stops for said rear shoes when said drawer is pulled outwardly with normal force and being removable from said runners when said drawer is pulled forwardly with considerable force so that said rear shoes knock said front shoes out of place.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 741,362 Ohnstrand Oct. 13, 1903 758,331 Ohnstrand Apr. 26, 1904 821,760 Speer May 29, 1906 2,366,532 Jones et al. Jan. 2, 1945 2,701,174 Franks Feb. 1, 1955 2,751,272 Hutzelman June 19, 1956 2,759,773 Wilmer et al Aug. 21, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 83,159 Sweden Apr. 16, 1935 

